Hot pot or shabu shabu is easy to get in cities like San Francisco and Boston. There are Japanese, Korean or Mongolian restaurants who offer it for an okay price! Have you ever thought about doing it at home though? It's easier than you think :)

I bought a portable stove on Amazon (for only $15) and a Japanese pot (for only $10). After that, all you need are veggies, meat and good company (maybe some good beer and sake too).

What you need:

Any veggie, how ever much you want. (I had lettuce, spinach, carrots, radish, zucchini)

Mushrooms

Meat (I had thin sliced pork, some people like beef too)

(Optional) Seafood

Tofu

(Optional) Noodles (e.g. udon)

Sauce (I bought ponzu and sesame sauce, both available on Amazon or Japanese supermarkets)

Yup. That's it!

For your broth, you can get creative (kimchi, soy milk, tomato sauce...); but since I was out of most ingredients, I just poured some sake in water, added a pinch of salt and some dashi.

You get to eat a lot of vegetables, and this dish warms you up. It's perfect for those chilly nights which make you want to feel cozy.

About This Dish:I head over to my freezer when I find myself hungry and in need of a substantial and healthy Japanese meal at home. Why? Because I usually have a stash of udon hidden in my freezer! Yaki-Udon (Fried Udon) is one of Japan's most popular noodles, udon, stir fried with a bunch of vegetables and optionally meat. This recipe adds a delicious taste to the dish by adding a little bit of sesame oil and Japanese soy sauce! Be creative in your additions and you might end up with an amazing dish for lunch! My mom actually used to make this for me for breakfast. Good old days :)

About This Dish:Tofu hamburgs are healthy, filling and are easy to make! Most of all, you can saran wrap each one and store them in the freezer and eat it for lunch and dinner whenever you want. Drizzle some homemade teriyaki sauce on top of these patties and serve with rice and veggies.

What You Need:(Makes 7 patties)

1/2 lb Ground chicken

1 tofu (I bought the medium firm tofu at Trader Joes)

1/2 onion

1/2 - 1 tbsp of grated or chopped ginger

Salt and pepper to taste

(optional) Garlic, 1 egg in the mix to hold all the ingredients better (if you want)

Teriyaki sauce

2.5 tbsp Japanese soy sauce

2 tbsp Japanese sake

2 tbsp sugar

1 - 2 tbsp mirin

1. Wrap the tofu in kitchen paper towels and put it in the microwave for 1 - 2 minutes. We want to drain the water out of the tofu! After it cools down, drain more water out.

4. Add the onions and mash further. Add the ginger, salt, pepper and any other tastes you want to add.

7. Once you see a nice burn, flip over the patties and do the same.

10. Once you place the patties out of the pan, start making the sauce using the same pan. Pour in all the ingredients for the sauce mentioned above and mix on LOW, VERY LOW heat.

You'll see that the sauce will get more dense and thick. Taste it as you go and once you're happy with it drizzle it on the patties. You can add a couple pinches of flour to make it more saucier if you like.

2. Start grilling the onions with some olive oil until it turns clear.

5. Put some oil on your hands and start shaping the patties. I made mine about the size of my palm. Don't make it too thick or else it'll be harder for the heat to go through when cooking.

8. Turn the heat down to MEDIUM HIGH heat and pour in 1/2 or less of water and close the pan shut with a lid. This procedure will help the patties to get more poofy and soft inside while cooking it through completely.

3. Mash the tofu in a bowl.

6. Place some olive oil on a pan on HIGH heat. Once the oil is heated, place the patties on the pan and heat until you see a nice burn.

9. After 1-2 minutes, check if there is water leftover. If not, your patties are done! If there is water, cover shut until the water is gone.

Number of steps: 10 (...but very easy!)Time taken: 30 minAprrox. 150kcal per large patty.

About This Dish:Craving Japanese style beef hamburgs? I crave those, but I love these tofu hamburgs even more given the fact that they are super super super healthy, and easy to make! You can make a bunch and freeze them up too. How convenient can it be?

What You Need:(for 8 large tofu hamburgs)

1 firm tofu (They sell it most grocery store now!)

300g Ground turkey (1/2 - 2/3 of a pound, you can also use ground chicken)

1 cup Japanese panko (bread crumbs, they also sell these at the asian section of most grocery stores)

1/2 large onion

1 egg

Salt, pepper

Sauce

About 10 cm of Japanese radish

2 tbsp Japanese soy sauce

1 tbsp mirin

1.5 tbsp Japanese sake (or any wine)

Here are your ingredients, please ignore the chicken broth, I have no clue why it's there!

2. Get rid of the unnecessary water which of the tofu. I just pressed it hard until water stopped dripping.

Here's the tofu after crushing it thoroughly.

5. Add an already mixed egg, and ground turkey. Mix very well!

7. Using your hands, create the patties! I made them quite big as you can see ;)

9. Add 1/2 cup of water into the pan and close it with a lid! This will steam the hamburgs and cook it well inside.

11. As for the sauce: grate the radish and place HALF of it into a microwavable bowl. Add the soy sauce, mirin and sake and microwave for 2 minutes! Yup, that's it.